Posted on 12/28/2011 5:47:17 PM PST by rzman21
How I led Catholics Out of the Church STEVE WOOD I was a Protestant for twenty years before I became a Catholic. I led many people out of the Catholic Church. My formula for getting Catholics to leave the Church usually consisted of three steps.
Step 1: Get Catholics to have a conversion experience in a Protestant setting. Most Fundamentalist, Evangelical, and charismatic Protestant churches have dynamic youth programs, vibrant Wednesday and Sunday evening services, and friendly small-group bible studies. In addition, they host special crusades, seminars and concerts. At the invitation of a Protestant friend, a Catholic may begin attending one or more of these events while still going to Sunday Mass at his local parish. Most Protestant services proclaim a simple gospel: repent from sin and follow Christ in faith. They stress the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus and the reward of eternal life. Most of the Catholics who attend these services are not accustomed to hearing such direct challenges to abandon sin and follow Christ. As a result, many Catholics experience a genuine conversion.
Protestants should be commended for their zeal in promoting conversions. Catholic leaders need to multiply the opportunities for their people to have such conversions in Catholic settings. The reason is simple. About five out of ten people adopt the beliefs of the denomination where they have their conversion. This percentage is even higher for those who had profound conversions or charismatic experiences that were provided by Protestants. (Believe me, I know; I was a graduate of an Assembly of God college and a youth minister in two charismatic churches.)
Protestant pastors, evangelists, youth leaders, and lay ministers are acutely aware that conversion experiences in Protestant settings often lead to a Protestant faith and church membership. Why do so many Catholic leaders fail to see this? Why are they so nonchalant about a process that has pulled hundreds of thousands of Catholics out of the Church?
Step 2: Give their conversion a Protestant interpretation.
A genuine conversion is one of life's most precious experiences, comparable to marriage or the birth of a child. Conversion awakens a deep hunger for God. Effective Protestant ministries train workers to follow up on this spiritual longing.
Before a stadium crusade, I would give follow-up workers a six-week training course. I showed them how to present a Protestant interpretation of the conversion experience with a selective use of bible verses. The scripture of choice was of course John 3:3, the "born-again" verse: "Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.'
I used the "touch and go" scripture technique, similar to that used by pilots training for landings and takeoffs. We would briefly touch down on John 3:3 to show that being born again was necessary for eternal life. Then I would describe conversion in terms of being born again. We would make a hasty takeoff before reading John 3:5 which stresses the necessity of being "born of water and spirit." I never mentioned that for 20 centuries the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, echoing the unanimous teaching of the Church fathers, understood this passage as referring to the Sacrament of Baptism! And I certainly never brought up Titus 3:5 ("He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit") as a parallel reference to John 3:5.
In my experience as a Protestant, all the Catholics who had a conversion in a Protestant setting lacked a firm grasp of their Catholic faith.
In twenty years of Protestant ministry, I never met a Catholic who knew that John 3:3-8 describes the sacrament of Baptism. It wasn't hard to convince them to disregard the sacraments along with the Church that emphasized the sacraments.
Proverbs says: "He who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him" (18:17). Catholics without a scriptural foundation for their Catholic beliefs never hear "the rest of the story." My selective use of scripture made the Protestant perspective seem so absolutely sure. Over time, this one-sided approach to scripture caused Catholics to reject their Catholic faith.
Step 3: Accuse the Catholic church of denying salvation by grace.
Catholics often consider Protestants who proselytize to be bigoted, narrow-minded, or prejudiced. This is unfair and inaccurate; a profound charity energizes their misguided zeal.
There was only one reason I led Catholics out of the Church: I thought they were on their way to hell. I mistakenly thought the Catholic Church denied that salvation was by grace; I knew that anyone who believed this wasn't going to heaven. Out of love for their immortal souls, I worked tirelessly to convert them.
I used Ephesians 2:8-9 to convince Catholics that it was imperative for them to leave the Church:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. First I would say, "The Bible says that salvation is by grace and not by works. Right?" Their answer was always yes. Then I would say, "The Catholic Church teaches that salvation is by works. Right?" (I never met a Catholic who did not say yes. Every Catholic I met during my twenty years of ministry confirmed my misconception that Catholicism taught salvation is by works instead of grace.) Finally, I would declare, "The Catholic Church is leading people to hell by denying salvation is by grace. You'd better join a church that teaches the true way to heaven."
Because I would also do a "touch and go" in Ephesians, I rarely quoted verse 10 which says, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Listen carefully to stadium evangelists, televangelists, and radio preachers. Nine times out of ten they will quote Ephesians 2:8-9 with great emphasis and never mention verse 10.
We are not slaves futilely trying to earn salvation by doing "works of the law" (Eph. 2:8-9). Yet as sons of God we are inspired and energized by the Holy Spirit to do "good works" as we cooperate with our heavenly father in extending the Kingdom of God (Eph. 2:10). Catholicism believes and teaches the full message of Ephesians 2:8-10, without equivocating or abbreviating the truth.
For twenty centuries the Catholic Church has faithfully taught that salvation is by grace. Peter the first pope said, "We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved" (Acts 15:11). The Catechism of the Catholic Church, fully endorsed by Pope John Paul II, says, "Our justification comes from the grace of God" (section 1996).
Protestantism started when Martin Luther declared that we are justified (made righteous) by faith alone. At the time I was leading Catholics out of the Church, I wasn't aware that Martin Luther had added the word alone to his translation of Romans 3:28 in order to prove his doctrine. (The word alone is not found in any contemporary Protestant English translation of Romans 3:28.) I didn't realize that the only place the bible mentions "faith alone" in the context of salvation is in James 2:24, where the idea of faith alone is explicitly refuted: "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." This verse was troubling, but I either ignored it, or twisted it to mean something other that what the verse and its context clearly taught.
Should Catholics participate in Protestant events?
I have no objection to Catholics participating in Protestant-oriented events and worthwhile ecumenical activities provided that:
they have a firm grasp of their Catholic faith. they know their faith well enough to articulate it to a non-Catholic, using scripture and the Church fathers. they have the maturity to realize that the most profound presence of Christ isn't necessarily found in the midst of loud noise and high emotion, but in quiet moments like Eucharistic adoration (see 1 Kings 19:11-12). Unfortunately, the majority of Catholic men born after WWII don't meet the above conditions. For them, attending Protestant functions may be opening a door that will lead them right out of the Catholic Church.
There are now thousands of Catholic men on the brink of leaving the one Church Christ died to establish. I recently heard of a group of Catholic men who decided not to consult the Catechism of the Catholic Church in their small-group bible study. They believed that all they needed was scripture alone. Three of these men claimed that they no longer believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I can tell you from experience where this group is headed: straight out of the Catholic Church.
Over the past three decades, thousands of Catholics have left the Church for Protestant pastures. The largest church in America is the Catholic Church; the second largest group of Christians in America is former-Catholics. The Catholic men's movement has a solemn obligation to help men discover the biblical and historical roots of their Catholic faith. Then, rather than leaving, they will become instruments to help others discover the treasures of Catholicism.
Remember that a man who leaves the Church will often take his family with him — for generations. It took my family four hundred years — 10 generations — to come back to the Church after a generation of my ancestors in Norway, England, Germany and Scotland decided to leave the Catholic Church.
As one whose family has made the round-trip back to Catholicism, let me extend a personal plea to Catholic men, especially the leaders of various Catholic men's groups: don't put untrained Catholics in a Protestant setting. They might gain a short-term religious experience, but they take the long-term risk of losing their faith. It would be highly irresponsible to expose them to Protestantism before they are fully exposed to Catholicism.
At my dad's funeral twenty-nine years ago, I tearfully sang his favorite hymn, Faith of Our Fathers. Little did my dad, a minister's son, or I realize that the true faith of our forefathers was Roman Catholicism. Every day I thank God for bringing me back to the ancient Church of my ancestors. Every year God gives me breath on this earth I will keep proclaiming to both my Protestant brethren and to cradle Catholics the glorious faith of our fathers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Wood, Steve. "How I led Catholics Out of the Church." St. Joseph's Covenant Newsletter 4 no. 2 (March/April 1998).
Reprinted with permission St. Joseph's Covenant Newsletter.
THE AUTHOR
Steve Wood is the founder of St. Joseph's Covenant Keepers (SJCK), a dynamic apostolate for Catholic men, and runs the web site dads.org.
Copyright © 1998 St. Joseph's Covenant Newsletter
Good post faucetman...the Lord does keep it simple doesn’t He? It’s either about Him and to Him... or “something else” which distracts away from Him.
Good post faucetman...the Lord does keep it simple doesn’t He? It’s either about Him and to Him... or “something else” which distracts away from Him.
Grace of course.
“Catholics believe something because the Church tells them what to believe.”
This, of course, is baloney.
But I think you know that.
Might be the Lord is trying to get thru to you He doesn't want you doing such things. He did call the Israelites "stiffnecked" and so are those who resist His clear teachings not to do such things.
The verses in The Bible that he claims he had to ignore, I, as a non Catholic, born again Christian, have never ignored nor needed to ignore, but rather they harmonize perfectly in with my beliefs. The way he now needs to interpret those verses, he claims he had to ignore, is non sequitur. The verses themselves do not speak to his current Catholic doctrines, as they are clearly read, but rather he has been indoctrinated into reading into them the doctrines that the Catholic Church purports.
I would suggest that anyone who reads the Bible should go into a room by themselves with Almighty God, ask Him to illuminate His word, and read it without prejudice. You will not come out with most all of Catholic doctrine. Nor will you come out with Mormon doctrine, Jehovah Witness doctrine nor any other misguided religion's doctrines. Don't come out of the room until you know that it is Almighty God who has instructed you.
Because we can be subject to being brainwashed by whatever religion we are closely associated with, to prevent ourselves from being deceived, the only sure way we can know that we truly have the truth is to know that we have received it from The LORD Himself through His Word. Remember that Christ, when confronted with lies, said "It is written" and referred to Holy Scripture as the ultimate guide to all truth.
2Ti 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Your pointless repetition is getting old.
Why don’t you just say tell us what you mean.
You may not be as clever as you think.
“Regarding the debate about faith and works: It’s like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most important.” C.S. Lewis
If your religion spends a fortune on gold regalia, robes, palaces and cathedrals (not to mention it’s own whole country)instead of on the starving children, maybe you are missing the message.
>>You establish a false dilemma. No institution cares for more poor people than the Catholic Church.
As Luther said himself:”Faith that is alone is not faith.”
The verses in The Bible that he claims he had to ignore, I, as a non Catholic, born again Christian, have never ignored nor needed to ignore, but rather they harmonize perfectly in with my beliefs. The way he now needs to interpret those verses, he claims he had to ignore, is non sequitur. The verses themselves do not speak to his current Catholic doctrines, as they are clearly read, but rather he has been indoctrinated into reading into them the doctrines that the Catholic Church purports.
I would suggest that anyone who reads the Bible should go into a room by themselves with Almighty God, ask Him to illuminate His word, and read it without prejudice. You will not come out with most all of Catholic doctrine. Nor will you come out with Mormon doctrine, Jehovah Witness doctrine nor any other misguided religion's doctrines. Don't come out of the room until you know that it is Almighty God who has instructed you.
Because we can be subject to being brainwashed by whatever religion we are closely associated with, to prevent ourselves from being deceived, the only sure way we can know that we truly have the truth is to know that we have received it from The LORD Himself through His Word. Remember that Christ, when confronted with lies, said "It is written" and referred to Holy Scripture as the ultimate guide to all truth.
2Ti 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Might be the Lord is trying to get thru to you He doesn’t want you doing such things. He did call the Israelites “stiffnecked” and so are those who resist His clear teachings not to do such things.
>>More circular reasoning on your part.
“I believe I Jesus, what religion am I?”
Mormon? They say that. Jehovahs Witness? Ditto. Seventh Daty Adventist? Yep them too.
So what sect do you call your own?
“I believe I Jesus, what religion am I?”
Mormon? They say that. Jehovahs Witness? Ditto. Seventh Day Adventist? Yep them too.
So what sect do you call your own?
But never was apostasy so good...
I became a Catholic for intellectual and theological reasons rather than I was sick of the PC in the ELCA.
And that is completely understandable to me...
I am confident that you would not make the claim that you called on Jesus to come into your life and trusted Jesus to be your Saviour while being a Protestant...
So that leaves you with a book and a religion that you can't relate to...What else could you do but hunt for people in the same position who claim to have knowledge about God and his religion that you could understand...The same intellectual knowledge you claim to have...
The thing you can't grasp that many Protestants and former Catholics know is that conversion is spiritual, not intellectual...
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
What person with any self esteem wants to have and would accept some person telling him that in the eyes of God, he's a useless piece of flesh and there's absolutely nothing he can do to merit heaven???
The article you post was good in the sense that it shows Catholics that by prayer, preaching and bible study they will find and come to Jesus...They move from the bondage of your religion right into the arms of Jesus Christ...
They develop a personal, spiritual relationship with the God of creation instead of a physical one where they must eat a wafer to have any (temporal) contact with Jesus...
A relationship where they know they can come and stand right there at the Throne of Grace in the presence of Jesus...With the confidence that Jesus listens to every word they speak...Without having to go thru another mediator to get there...
But thanks for the article...I think it will encourage Catholics to seek out the Lord of the scriptures...
I would assume you don't pigeon hole all Christians into that web...there are many who do not adhere to the name it claim it bunch...although even they do seem to get the Gospel message across. Unfortunately it's mingled with allot of other "stuff" similar to what the catholic church has in it's "other stuff".
The Priesthood was entirely filled in Christ as our great High Priest...there is no longer a need for the Priesthood. But some people have a need to have a go between since their faith in Christ is not enough to satisfy them in their thinking. ...makes one wonder then if Christ is enough to save them since He appears to need someone else as their mediator....so where then does that leave them? It would appear looking to man rather then to the Savior Himself...and that's guaranteed not to be sufficient to save a soul.
Not an ounce of truth to it...You are constantly rebutted with the writings of your own church fathers and tons and tons of scripture...
I don't agree with that as there are many "institutions" and organizations who do equally as well if not more effectively.
But thanks for the article...I think it will encourage Catholics to seek out the Lord of the scriptures...
>>And become good apostates and lose their salvation.
Catholics already have the Lord of the scriptures, thank you.
In Evangelicalism, everything is subjective.
Works naturally follow salvation as it’s no longer I that lives but Christ who lives in me....It’s His works...not ours. We cannot claim an credit for any good which comes of us. We are simply the instruments He uses to accomplish His works....never ours.
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